Leadership in the Age of Attention
Leadership has always been conferred, not possessed. What has changed is the machinery through which that conferral happens — and the speed at which it can be withdrawn
- Society
Sociology has spent a century explaining how consumer objects carry social meaning. The market spent the same century charging a premium for it. Both projects continue, largely undisturbed.
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When the message replaces the meaning
Media was built to inform. It was then rebuilt to perform. The distance between the two is where public understanding goes to die.
The Sincerity Industry
For a decade, brands competed to demonstrate their values. Then the internet made verification cheap, trust expensive and sincerity indistinguishable from its imitation. The market has not yet found a solution. It has, however, found a way to charge for the problem.
The Sociology of Desire
Consumers insist they are choosing products. Sociologists, neuroscientists and a century of market data suggest otherwise. What people are really choosing is a place in the social order.
